Occam's Razor

I heard the most fascinating story on "This American Life" this afternoon. It was based on Occam's Razor which, boiled down to its essence, asserts that: Given a choice between two explanations, the simplest explanation is probably the right explanation.

The story was about a family who spent at least twenty years asserting that their first born son, was white, when in actuality, he was biracial. It was one of those classic NPR stories that is so compelling, I take the long way home and inevitably have to sit in the car to listen to the end. I was absolutely unable to comprehend so many different pieces of the story. How could this family live with such a big elephant in the room and never address it? Why, once the story got out, no one was angry, bitter, or betrayed? In fact, once the truth was out, the family felt relief. The son felt complete, both fathers felt equally a father to their son, the sisters could finally relax, and the mother was free. WTF???!!!

At so many different points throughout this family's life, when faced with an opportunity to face this unspoken truth, each family member, chose to go with the easier and simpler option. They did it because it was easier than facing the possibility of losing their center, their world, the idea of their perfect circle of love. But, it still didn't seem plausible to me. This kind of blindness is just not possible.

Then I thought about where I am in my personal journey. I've always seen myself as a creative person. I play an instrument, sew, knit, and pretty much enjoy any type of crafty venture. It's that second to last word that is my Occam's Razor solution. Given the choice between thinking of myself as crafty versus an artist, the simpler is explanation. I can answer yes to crafting, but an artist, no friggin' way. Artists create things. Artists have vision. Artists can see what is unseen and then express it through a given medium.

But, oh God, do I want to be an artist. Just typing these words made my stomach flip flop. I want to be an artist. And it seems to me, that to make that happen, I have to abandon the idea of my perfect circle of self. And I realize that, like the family, it's the insistence of keeping the idea of my perfect circle of self, what's holding me back from being in the center of my freer, truer (not perfect) circle.

I have been encouraged by a mentor to start an Artists' Way circle. My first instinct was excitement, then came that naysayer voice who says I am no artist and no one will join and now is not the time, and besides, a lot of the readers on Amazon said it's corny and they're probably right.

So I have to ask myself: Given a choice between two explanations, is the simpler explanation the easier one or the safe one?